Beware of Strangers
by Mirror's Mirage
Summary: You don't just randomly decide to tag-along with a complete stranger you're suppose to be following without feeling some kind of connection or gaining their trust first. Why did Nate develop such an attraction to Charlie so quickly? Was it just an act or was it more complicated than that? mini-multichapter story - Chapter 4 - Stranger with Hidden Intent
1. Stranger at the Waterfall

Archive - TV Show - Revolution (2012, NBC)

Characters - Charlotte 'Charlie' Matheson, 'Nate'

Summary: You don't just randomly decide to tag-along with a complete stranger you're suppose to be tracking without feeling some kind of connection first.

Notes: Naturally, some details in the story will be probably debunked by later episodes due to lack of information on Nate and I may also take liberty with smaller details. Expands on some things in the show. I feel like Charlie and Nate's reactions to each other were genuine in the first episode but I also feel like we MISSED an important scene at the waterfall!

Posted: September 28, 2012

* * *

Stranger at the Waterfall

Maybe it was a little naïve to expect that there was no one else out there but Charlie honestly didn't expect to run into anyone else unless they were Militia. So, she was startled upon reaching the waterfall they had spotted the day before to find that someone was there, someone had set up camp there even. They hadn't because they didn't want to be discovered by any passersby looking for water. She backed up quickly, ducking behind the wall. The owner of the campsite was awake, studying a recurve bow.

Charlie peeked out behind the remains of the wall cautiously, watching the stranger carefully. He was definitely a fighter - around her age, his late teens, early twenties or so. There was a pack laying near a dying fire at his feet. He had short dark hair, lightly tanned skin, wearing a blue shirt that looked too small and a pair of black jeans that fitted but showed off his physique very nicely. The stranger paused in the middle of testing the string of his bow, sighed and turned in her direction.

"You know, most people just say 'good morning',"

Charlie jumped, ashamed at being caught and stepped out. "I was just -" She held up the bottles helplessly and stopped. "Good morning,"

"Morning," he greeted. He placed one end of his bow in the dirt, grabbing the end of it with both hands. "I'm Nate,"

"Charlie,"

"Where are you headed, Charlie?"

Charlie just looked at him, suspicious of his casual attitude. "None of your business, Nate,"

Nate sniggered, a smile on his lips before looking up at her again, squinting against the light of the sun. "That's true,"

"I'm gonna get some water," Charlie said, gesturing with the bottles again before going to do just that. Nate followed her with his eyes; Charlie glanced over her shoulder at him and quickly hid her gaze in her hair.

* * *

"How do you know that water is safe to drink?" Nate interrupted after a few moments of the clack of firewood from his campsite. Charlie closed her eyes for patience and didn't look at him as she stood with her bottles of water.

"It doesn't have worms it,"

"But you could get water poisoning. I've seen people get sick from unclean water,"

"It's fine,"

"How do you _know _that?" he pressed. "Are those even the best containers?"

"Are you going to stand there and pretended you know everything?" Charlie demanded, glaring across the clearing at him. She frowned upon realizing he was actually standing somewhere between his campfire and where she was standing by the water. She hadn't even heard him move. He had stoked his fire and moved his things further away from it.

"Just tryin' to help. Want me to show you a trick?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow. His bow was sitting by his backpack and he was holding an assortment of strange materials in his hands. "Look," he said coming closer and kneeling by her side. "Even back when they had electricity, plastic was bad," Charlie watched curiously as Nate placed an old wine bottle on a flat rock.

"Charcoal," he said, pulling a pouch of crushed charcoal from his waist. "It's fresh - made it just yesterday. You need to have charcoal that was recently burned but cooled off. I've already crushed this,"

Charlie nodded. "We just got our water from a spring back home,"

"That's good but not if you're traveling, naturally," Nate smiled. "I use a glass bottle I scavenged for this," he went on, holding up the old wine bottle. "But you could make a cone out of bark too. So you put the cloth - or grass if you have no cloth - in the neck of the bottle firmly so the charcoal doesn't get into the water." He spoke as he went through the motions and handed her the glass bottle. "Now put in the charcoal and pack it tight so the water filters through slowly. Fill it halfway,"

The charcoal powder quickly blackened her hands as she frowned in concentration pouring it into the glass bottle and pressed it down with the tips of her fingers.

"How did you learn this?"

"From my guardians," he said after a few moments. "Now over the charcoal we put packed down grass or sand or -" He pulled another piece of cloth from his belt pouch. "Another cloth,"

"You're very prepared,"

"Better to be prepared and not needed it," he said. "After we filter it, we have to boil it. I heat up rocks to put around the pot and you should run it through two or three times before it comes out clear and you can put a piece of charcoal to enhance the flavor of the water,"

"How long does this take?" Charlie frowned.

"Awhile. Why, you have somewhere to be?"

Charlie averted her eyes; he was really sitting way too close to her. If she said she had companions and he _was _one of those bandits she had heard about, he could kill her (or try) and then look for Maggie and Aaron. But, he could see it as more trouble, taking out one person and then have two others hunting him down...

"Yes, I do," she said, washing her hands free of charcoal dust in the water. "And I'd like to get there sooner than later," She shook water droplets from her hands and stood.

"Must be important if you won't even stop for decent water," Nate said, standing up and snagging one of her bottles from her hands.

"Hey!" she protested, grabbing for it.

"I have filtered water; I'll give you mine. I have plenty." He chuckled at her look. "Don't be so suspicious."

"I've heard too many stories not to be,"

"Stories could be lies,"

"They could be truth too; I've no way of knowing."

Nate shrugged. "That's true," he said, tucking the filter bottle under one arm and unscrewing the cap of the plastic bottle. "These are no good anymore," he said, holding up the plastic container as he walked back to the fire. "If they ever were. They've had contaminated water in them." He pulled a small pot from his pack and set up the filter to drip. "Can I have your other bottle?"

Charlie reluctantly handed it over. "Why are you so trusting?"

"Not everyone can be monsters," he said. "And besides, it's rare to meet charming strangers,"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Charming?"

"Charming, friendly. You know, not out to kill you,"

Charlie nodded slowly, rubbing her hands on her pants and not really looking at Nate. "You have an interesting definition of charming,"

"I'm an interesting guy," he said without modesty. "Here," He handed her two green bottles filled to the brim with water.

"Wait, I can't take this,"

"Yes, you can. I have time to make more." he said insistingly. Charlie took the bottles which were both wrapped with leather cords for carrying. She would have to get water for one more person but she held her tongue. If Aaron or Maggie asked where the bottles came from she could always her house or she found them. The 'I found them' was probably more plausible because she could also say she had been boiling water to clean the bottles with if they asked.

"Thank you," she said. "You've been very...friendly."

"You're welcome," Nate said with a smile tucked in the corner of his lips. He smiled a lot.

"I'm...gonna go now," said Charlie ducking her head and walking off.

"Good luck!" he called after her.

Charlie glanced over her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Good luck with whatever you're doing," he said, giving a little wave.

Charlie smiled just a little. "Thanks, you too,"

* * *

_This will be a three-shot expanding on scenes in the show between Nate and Charlie. I feel the interaction between the two is down pat but we haven't seen how they get there! I'm going to blame network time constraints._

_*The water filtration methods described here was actually information taken from practical primitive . com_


	2. Stranger with a Good Heart?

Archive - TV Show - Revolution (2012, NBC)

Characters - Charlotte 'Charlie' Matheson, 'Nate'

Summary: So... _how _did Nate show up so conveniently to help Charlie out of her predicament?

* * *

Beware of Strangers

Part 2 – Stranger with a Good Heart?

It was sometime before he could pick up the tracks of Charlie Matheson, having to wait for the water to filter through and night had fallen. His path led him to an abandoned airfield, bathed in the light of the full moon.

Squinting against the darkness, Nate bent down holding his lamp up to see the tracks left in the grass, going around the fence to see where they led to next, stepping carefully so as to leave very few tracks of his own. A small boot-print, marred with two others – three to be exact – was by the red and white sign attached to the fence. She had company. He was about to climb over the fence with some glinting a few inches away caught his eye. He turned to investigate, picking up a long sharp piece of broken mirror. Holding up the lamp, he looked closer; it had fallen into a deep boot-print. And there was another three sets of tracks.

He swore softly, stowing away the mirror blade and blowing out his lamp, shoving it into his backpack before scaling the fence with swift movements and dropping down on the other side. He unhooked his bow from his back, running lightly towards the nearest crumbling airplane just as faint screams began to echo out of it. He picked up the pace, tearing off his backpack, dropping it to the ground and running faster. He needed that girl – his superiors wouldn't be too happy if he lost his lead.

And it really had nothing to do with the fact she had a nice smile, was cute, and was a breath of fresh air after living so long in the discipline and uniformity of the militia.

Really.

The screams grew more high-pitched; Nate searched for the entrance, drawing an arrow from his leather pouch quiver secured to his back and nocking it the string. He followed the sounds of the screams, spotting a dark patch against the white – two shapes were visible and the screams and frantic thuds came from there. Nate raised his bow, drawing the arrow back to his cheek and aimed, letting the arrow fly.

There was a thud and a squelching noise – Charlie's screams were abruptly cut off as a choked gasp came from his victim and the shadowy form that Nate could see fell to the floor with a thud.

Letting out a long breath to calm himself, Nate slowly lowered his bow as Charlie looked outside, trying to catch her breath. Her face was shadowed in confusion.

Why was he here? Did he followed them?

"Are you alright?" Nate asked her with seemingly genuine concern, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Charlie!" Nate tensed as another voice resounded from within the plane and footsteps sounded – a moment later, a large man appeared, looking anxious. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," The man noticed Nate standing there and stepped in front of Charlie.

"Who are you?"

"It's okay, Aaron, he's fine, he – he shot him," Charlie said, stepping around Aaron and pointing at the bandit's corpse.

"Who?" Light footsteps this time and a pale woman with blonde hair appeared in the doorway of the plane, tugging at her companions when she saw his bow, Charlie impatiently tugged her sleeve out of Maggie's grip. "And you would be...?"

"A friend, Nate. I heard screams," he explained, glancing around for his backpack.

"Well, thank you for your help," Maggie said, turning to Aaron and Charlie. "We should find another camp site,"

"I'll get our stuff," Aaron volunteered, disappearing into the back of the plane.

"You didn't set up guards," Nate interrupted. "You should take turns keeping watch,"

"Thank you for your advice," the blonde woman said, tugging Charlie's hand. Charlie yanked her hand out of her grip.

"I'd like to get down," Charlie explained as Aaron reappeared with their things. Charlie took her backpack and crossbow with a nod of thanks and secured them to her person. Nate retrieved his own backpack from the ground and walked up to the entrance of the plane.

"I'll catch you," Charlie looked at him doubtfully. "I promise. Just jump,"

Charlie peered out of the plane door. "Is there a pile of old...cases over there?" she asked, pointing to the wing of the plane.

Nate looked. "Yes,"

"I'll climb down those," she decided, stepping out onto the wing carefully. Maggie and Aaron followed several steps behind; Nate shifted positions, watching their feet as they descended and telling them where to step.

"Thank you," said Maggie somewhat stiffly. "For your help,"

"Yeah, thanks," Charlie agreed.

"The farther we are from this airfield the better," Maggie said, taking the lead. "Let's go,"

"Wait, we can't just leave him by himself!" Charlie protested. "What if more bandits come?"

"I'm sure he can take care of himself," Maggie said, shooting a look at him. Nate chose to remain silent.

"We do owe him our lives," Aaron pointed out, shifting his backpack around.

"My life," Charlie corrected. "Or health, whichever,"

"I can go on by myself," Nate said though it would be more advantageous to be traveling with them instead of following them.

Aaron and Charlie both gave Maggie looks. "It appears I've been outvoted," she muttered, walking ahead. Aaron hurried to keep up.

"That's Maggie by the way," Charlie explained as she and Nate hurried after their older traveling companions.

"She's cheerful," Nate commented. Charlie scoffed.

"Pushy,"

"She's just looking out for you,"

Charlie grumbled. "I didn't even want her to come along,"

Nate latched on to that, detecting the bitterness in her voice. Tension in the group - this he could use. He ignored the slight feeling of regret; he hoped she wasn't very attached to this uncle of hers.

"Charlie, keep up!" Maggie called.

"I am, I am," she huffed in irritation, picking up the pace. They reached the fence fairly quickly and climbed over it - Aaron had a little trouble due to his bulk.

They walked in silence, letting both Charlie and Nate sink into their thoughts.


	3. The Stranger is Befriended

Archive - TV Show - Revolution (2012, NBC)

Characters - Charlotte 'Charlie' Matheson, 'Nate', Maggie, Aaron,

**Summary: **_Yesterday he was a stranger. Today he is a traveling companion, if not a friend._

_Thanks to - Hunger'Games'Obsessed10, Likes-The-Emphatic-Boom, IronAmerica, AriMaye, Yessiree, MikaBee2434LOVE and Nyah1 for your reviews and I hope you enjoy the rest of this short story._

**Notes:**_ This chapter was a bit harder than the others. Especially because this is fills in the night and the morning after Nate helped Charlie out of her predicament_

_Posted - October 13, 2012_

* * *

The Stranger is Befriended

* * *

"I'll take the first watch," Maggie said once they had set up camp, the fire concealed from unfriendly eyes by the shallow dip in the ground. Charlie spread out a blanket over the dry leaves a good distance from the fire. "Aaron, take the second - Charlie, the last," They set up their sleeping places in a circle around the campfire, facing the woods.

Nate, who noticed _he _didn't get a watch, didn't say anything. Maggie wasn't the fighter of the group but she seemed to be the practical one. "Okay," Charlie agreed, seeming resigned and eager to sleep.

"I'm not sure I can fall asleep," Aaron muttered.

Nate rolled out his own blanket - it was big, big enough to lay on and cover himself with and it was helpfully two-colored so he knew which side to put on the ground and which side to wrap himself with. He kept a knife on hand and made sure he could get out of the blanket quickly if bandits came, keeping an eye on Charlie.

* * *

Aaron woke Charlie up shortly before dawn, his eyes bloodshot behind his glasses. Charlie rolled out of the ball she had curled herself in while she slept and quietly stretched to wake herself up. She stood, grateful for the summer air that allowed them to walk about in comfortable clothes and wondered what would happen if they hadn't found and rescued Danny once winter had rolled around. Charlie shoved these thoughts to the back of her mind and she turned her attention fletching the wooden shafts she had brought along for extra arrowbolts, keeping an eye on the woods and keeping her ears pricked for any sound.

Dawn was starting to break, banishing the dark colors of the night sky and replacing with the dark blue with bands of yellow and pink, when she realized someone was watching her and she frowned, suddenly uneasy as she looked around the edges of the campsite, standing up and turning slowly, an arrowbolt loaded on her crossbow.

"Good morning, Charlie,"

Charlie turned to face the sleeping figures by the campfire and relaxed slightly, realized that the watcher was just Nate, sitting up in his makeshift bedroll then frowned to herself. She should keep her guard up.

"Good morning, Nate," she greeted back as Nate put aside his blanket and stood, stretching his arms over his head. "You don't have to get up yet,"

"An early start is better. We need to get food don't we?"

Charlie checked their supplies while Nate stoke the dying fire back up. "Yeah, we do," she confirmed. "I'll go get the food,"

"We don't have go far," Nate said. "There plenty of game close by,"

"Someone has to keep watch," Charlie pointed out. "You said so yourself,"

Nate sighed inwardly. "True, true,"

A rustle of movement sounded from the bushes and Charlie whipped her around, searching for the source of the sound.

"Look at that," Nate breathed, standing up slowly and quietly crossing the campsite to Charlie's side. A tall jackrabbit was sitting at least twenty feet away, ears twitching. He took her crossbow, half ignoring her frown, still moving slowly and aimed. "Came right to us,"

The bolt fired and the jackrabbit moved but the bolt went clean through it's throat as it moved in the wrong direction.

"See? We don't even have leave sight of camp,"He said handing her crossbow back to her.

"Well, in that case..." Charlie said, glancing around. "Let's grab breakfast,"

Nate got his own bow and arrows from his blankets, rolling them up into a tight bundle and shouldered his weapons.

"Ready?"

* * *

Maggie woke up, expecting to see Charlie still up from the last watch of the night. She hadn't trusted the stranger to keep while they slept. Instead, all she saw was a newly stoked fire and Aaron sound asleep on his back. Both Nate and Charlie were gone.

Maggie frowned, quickly rising to her feet. Their backpacks were still here but their bows were both gone. "Aaron," she said walking over to his sleeping form. "Aaron!" she nudged him sharply with her foot, startling him awake.

"Wha – what?"

"Get up – Charlie and our visitor are gone," she said. "I'm going to look for them," Aaron sat up, looking around blearily. "And put on your glasses. Their packs are still here – they couldn't have gone too far,"

The sound of a bow twang sounded close by and Maggie's head turned sharply towards the sound coming from the trees.

* * *

Charlie concentrated on the draw of the recurve bow's string, rather than on the feeling of Nate at her back, lined up with her body, helping her line up the arrow and bow.

"Crossbows are all well and good," he was saying in her ear, lowly to avoid startling the animals. "But when it comes to combat, it takes time to reload them," Charlie nodded in agreement. "You've got good posture - just adjust your hand, pull it all the way back to your cheek..."

Charlie let out a slow breath as the rabbit they were stalking reappeared, wriggling it's nose.

"And let it go," he whispered. The arrow thrummed through the air as Charlie released it - the rabbit's ears shot up and it darted away seconds before the arrow pierced the trunk behind it.

"Damnit," Charlie hissed, taking another arrow from Nate's quiver. Nate stepped back, picking up her crossbow from the ground and waited patiently as she struggled to nock the arrow and steady it. She slowly drew it back - the string failed to reach her ear so she pulled it back more until the fletching tickled her cheek and held it, breathing out lowly and evenly as the leaves rustled and a plumper rabbit peeking through the leaves. Charlie adjusted her aim and fired. The rabbit scurried to the right towards the safety of the at the tree sound of the arrow but that's exactly where Charlie had fired the arrow and within seconds it was dead on the ground, an arrow through it's neck.

Charlie pumped in her fists in the air in silent triumph and jogged over to retrieve her catch.

"Good shot," Nate said approvingly, picking up the thick branch of previously caught food - two more plump rabbits and two squirrels. "You think this is enough?"

"Yeah - we can smoke one for a snack on the way," Charlie said nodding. Nate pulled a string out of his belt pouch and strung up Charlie's rabbit with the others.

"That's what you were doing,"

Charlie jumped sharply; Nate laid a hand on her shoulder, calming her down and turning to face Maggie who was quietly picking her way through the leaves.

"Good morning," he said pleasantly. "We just thought we get some breakfast,"

"Well, thank you for not straying too far from the campsite," Maggie said.

Charlie sighed and strolled past her with Nate's bow still in her hand. "You're welcome. Let's go cook the breakfast then,"

* * *

Breakfast was a silent affair; Aaron and Maggie packed up their things while Nate and Charlie set up the makeshift roasting spit, setting to work skinning and cooking the rabbits and squirrels. The 'kids' talked, mostly about the cooking and occasionally exchanging jibes.

Maggie had to admit even though Nate was a stranger and they knew next to nothing about him, he _was _being helpful. So she supposed she could tolerate him - at least until they managed to excuse themselves and go in another direction.

* * *

**_Author's Note - This chapter was a bit harder than the others. Especially because this is fills in the night and the morning after Nate helped Charlie out of her predicament. So it fills in a bigger missing scene that just fleshing out a scene._**

**_I'm glad you guys enjoy it. Please review and tell me what you think._**


	4. Stranger with Hidden Intent

Archive - TV Show - Revolution (2012, NBC)

Main Characters - Charlotte 'Charlie' Matheson, 'Nate'

Posted: November 3, 2012 - I intended to post this ages ago but I got a little stuck and I was caught up in a flurry of papers. I have a moment to breathe, so I finished up this chapter and decided to post it.

Edited: November 4, 2012

One more chapter most likely and then this story will be complete. This is the longest chapter yet so enjoy.

* * *

Stranger with Hidden Intents

* * *

As they traveled, following patchworked maps from a time when electricity connected everyone in the country like a web, they talked, they laughed, they hunted. Maggie remained a tad hostile but acted civilly around their new travel companion. He displayed his proficiency with fishing - backing up his claims that he intended to join a fishing crew in Chicago. He taught Charlie how to shoot a recurve bow with decent proficiency - though the draw weight proved too great for Charlie and she refused to use it again after four tries - and Charlie laughed at the silly mistakes he made trying to fish.

"I'm an idiot," he muttered one day after a large fish smacked him in the face, startling him enough to make him fall into the stream. It took advantage of the moment to escape into the waters.

Charlie's laughter rang out from the bank, but she stuffed her fist in her mouth and tried to suppress it.

"Thank you, Charlie," said Nate sitting up in the water. "For compounding my feeling of idiocy,"

"Make a fishing rod," she quipped.

Nate sighed, choosing not to face her. "I'd rather not - it's a lazy way of catching fish,"

"The fish won't attack you if you use a fishing rod," she teased. Nate resolved to ignore her.

* * *

"He's seems nice enough," Aaron said. He was sitting with Maggie at the campsite by the firepit which had a small fire going. They were camping in sight of the river, in a grove of trees, keeping an eye out for bandits while Nate and Charlie splashed around in the river, catching fish. Nate was better at it and seem to take pleasure in teasing Charlie about it especially after the 'Attack of the Fish' from the previous day.

"You don't have to keep acting like you're the god of fishing!" Charlie snapped, throwing a small rock on him and scoring a hit on his neck. She smiled as it produced a yelp of pain. "So what, I caught less - I still got two, I think that's good! At least_ I_ get didn't get beaten by a fish."

"Okay, okay - there's no need to resort to violence," Nate complained, rubbing his neck. "Ah...good shot. You're never gonna let me live that down are you?"

"Being shown up by a fish? No,"

"True." Maggie conceded. "It is nice to have another proficient hunter, at least till we get to Chicago. Then we split ways and never see him again,"

"Yeah...we probably shouldn't get other people involved in...this...thing," Aaron agreed, cleaning his glasses.

* * *

"I use to collect ... artifacts from Before the Blackout," Charlie explained as they passed through the maze of greenery, leading the way through the green leaves as the sun dipped below the horizon. She would glance over her shoulder every now and then to check that Aaron and Maggie were still with them.

"What kind of artifacts?" Nate asked, sounding interested.

"Small things - postcards, little statues. We here so many stories - but I barely remember what it was like. I remember tv and ice cream and bugs bunny..."

"Same. Seems like it was all a dream," Nate agreed. "But it was real - to them," he gestured to the adults.

"It was real to me too! Just... not as much. But this is how we live now. And now, my stomach says it's time to stop for a quick lunch,"

* * *

Wrigley Field was still standing but it was overgrown with weeds and plantlife when they passed by it, picking through the knee-high plants.

"We're almost there," Charlie smiled picking up the pace.

* * *

In Chicago, there were rivers where there had been streets and they used an abandoned train and it's tracks as a bridge to crossover the rivers.

"It looks like these are the inhabited areas," Maggie said as she, Charlie and Aaron sat at an abandoned cafe. Nate had gone off to seek fishing crews and Maggie hoped he would not be back. "We can check around there, see what we find and make our way to the local tavern. I've been told it's a good spot to look for people,"

"Sounds like a plan," Charlie approved.

So for two more days they looked around Chicago's inhabited neighbors for signs of Miles - unfortunately, Charlie only had vague details about what he looked like so they were forced to ask around. Some people didn't say anything, others threatened them, some fled, and most had no idea who or what they were talking about. Nate hung around - most of the fishing crews had already left but he was directed to the local tavern for more information.

Maggie hid her displeasure with this.

* * *

"I use to live here," Charlie said.

Their third day in Chicago had ended - a former diner was being used as a sleeping area and there were quite a few lanterns in residence.

Charlie leaned back against the side of a booth, the last watch of the evening. Maggie's paranoia of strangers knew no bounds; Charlie held her tongue about complaining. Maggie traveled the country for years by herself - she supposed she had good reasons for it. Her father hadn't been a big fan of strangers either. Nate had been elevated enough to a position of trust that he also had a watch.

"Before the Blackout?" Nate asked quietly, turning over in his bedroll.

"Yeah. I don't remember much about it but it is very...different. It's kind of surreal, you know?"

"I know the feeling,"

"Where do you come from?" Charlie asked.

Nate chuckled dryly. "You know what the sad thing is? I honestly don't remember or it's fuzzy. Blame it on the traveling,"

"That's too bad,"

"Nah, it's okay. Sometimes getting attached to a place is a mistake," He rolled over to the stare at the stars that they could see through the damaged ceiling. "So, you're looking for someone?"

"Long-lost relative,"

"I feel like an intruder," Nate commented. "I can always go ahead to the Lakes on my own,"

"You need information from the tavern - don't be silly. Besides - it's nice to meet someone I haven't known for most of my life,"

Nate felt a stab of guilt and quickly repressed it. "Getting bored?"

"Yeah - I just wish that - " She cut herself off. "Never mind. You should probably get some sleep."

"Alright." He said, agreeably, turning over in his bedroll. "Good night, Charlie,"

"Goodnight, Nate,"

* * *

"Market Avenue," Aaron said as they turned onto a long street filled with tables and makeshift stalls. "This is where they said the Inn was,"

Nate kept an eye out for any would-be troublemakers as they picked their way through the stalls and people. He ignored the persisting twist of guilt in his gut. This was the danger of undercover work - sympathizing with the enemy, caring for the enemy. It really didn't help that her father had been killed by accident.

"Do you think these apples are any good?" He was taken out of his thoughts by Charlie's question - directed at Maggie. The doctor took the offered red apple while Aaron poked at the pile. The stallkeeper eyed the trio warily and looked even more apprehensive when Nate approached.

"May I borrow your knife?" Maggie asked. Nate handed over the food one and Maggie ignored the stallkeeper's protest as Maggie sliced clean through the apple revealing brown spots and - oh joy - worms.

Charlie immediately dropped one of the other apples she was holding and Aaron took a hasty step back. "That is not something I wanted to see,"

"Very gross," Nate agreed, holding out the offending apple to the stallkeeper who cringed away. "You might want to check your apples better - people will get mad if they remember what stall they got these from,"

Maggie handed Nate his knife back which he promptly began cleaning with alcohol and cloth he kept in his belt pouch.

Charlie wiped her hands on her pants as they walked away from the offending stall and Maggie provided some homemade handwash.

* * *

"I think that's it," Charlie pointed at a large white building dominating the center of the street. Nate took an appreciative glance at a fishing boat set up on silts as they passed.

"Oh, good -my aches are aching," Aaron sighed.

Nate shook his head and remained unfazed as a pair of men crossed their path, tussling. Charlie was so startled, she stumbled back hastily and fell down.

"Up, up, up," Aaron said as he and Maggie picked her up. "Let's keep moving,"

Nate snagged an apple from a nearby table, going around the brawling men. "Now, this is a decent apple," he said, showing it to Charlie as they walked up the steps of the white building.

"Do you like showing off or something?"

"Or something," Nate shrugged.

Charlie punched him lightly in the shoulder, suppressing a smile.

* * *

The tavern was windowless, dimly lit by a wide collection of lamps and candles. The center of the former entryhall of the Grand had been taken over by a large bar area and most of the clientele were male. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the two women of their group.

"Hey, sweetheart! Where you going?"

Nate eyed them warily while Aaron glanced around nervously. To their credit, both Charlie & Maggie ignored them, making their way to the bar. Nate slid in behind them, putting himself the women and the man who stunk of booze. Almost casually, Nate bent the fingers of the man, pressing the heel of his boots into the man's toes as he passed.

The offending man hissed in pain; Nate let him go and pushed him away, stepping in beside Charlie who had settled by the bar.

"Maybe you can help me," Maggie began, addressing the bartender. He turned, still pouring something.

"Oh god I hope so,"

"I'm looking for somebody,"

"Oh that accent. Lady, you are classin' up the joint."

"Well, that shouldn't be too difficult, should it?" The bartender blinked at her. "His name is Miles Matheson," Maggie said. Nate listened intently, studying the bartender without letting his thoughts show on his face. He was scruffy looking with an unkept bread, red shirt, jeans, unkept hair. Nate sneered inwardly. _This _couldn't be the General Matheson he'd been sent to track down, could it?

The bartender shrugged. "Sorry, never heard of him,"

"No," Charlie cut in. "He has to be here."

"What do you want me to do kid?" He asked, turning away from her.

"Well, if you know him - or if you know anyone who does - can you tell him ... tell him his brother's dead?"

The bartender paused and Nate took careful note of his reactions. "He was murdered by militia," Charlie explained.

The bartender set down the glass and turned to them, pointing at Charlie. "Who are you?" the barkeep demanded of her.

"Charlie. Charlotte, I'm - I'm his niece,"

"Just you, come with me," the barkeep ordered, indicating that she should follow.

Nate scoffed. "No way, buddy," _Why did I say that? _Nate wondered, fingering his knife, feeling a little uncertain now but the barkeep had turned back, fixating him with a dispassionate, unamused look and Charlie was looking at him in confusion so he couldn't take it back now. He flicked his knife out of his belt pouch, holding it casually. "You aren't taking her anywhere,"

He saw Aaron uncomfortably fiddle with his glasses out of the corner of his eye and but paid the man no mind.

And in the moment it took him to notice Aaron's fidgeting, the bartender had moved, disarming him, grabbing his hand and laying Nate's own knife against his neck. Nate stared at him, eyes wide, not even daring to breathe.

The bartender's relaxed scornful stare and his words - "She's my niece. I don't know you." - erased any doubts - _this_ was Miles Matheson. It was hard equating Charlie with this grizzled old man but Nate really didn't want to bleed out on the floor. The bartender pulled the knife back, spun it, and stabbed it into the countertop. He turned on his heel, heading out of the bar.

"Wait," said Charlie. "You're Uncle Miles?"

"Underwhelmed?"

"No, no...you're just..it's unexpected," she mumbled, following after him. She paused glancing over at Nate. "I'll be fine - thanks for worrying,"

"Girl!" Miles called. Charlie hurried after him.

Only after the runaway General of the Milita had disappeared with his niece did Nate let his tense muscles relax slightly, yanking his knife out of the countertop and resheathing in his belt pouch. So, he knew where Miles was and he had three potential hostages though he didn't know their value. Charlie herself would be a valuable prisoner, considering her relation to Miles but on the other hand, he hadn't seen his niece and nephew in years - would he have any attachment to them at all?

There was also the problem of Miles' military background. Would he be able to see past his bluff, pick him out for the militia spy he was? He frowned as he sensed, rather than heard, Maggie approaching him, interrupting his thoughts.

"You look as if you intend to follow Charlie for a while,"

"He looked...iffy," Nate said, looking down at the countertop, glaring at it.

"That I won't argue with." Maggie agreed.

"But technically, you're just here to look for information on those fishing crews right?" Aaron said. "You don't have to get involved in this,"

"I don't even know what this is," Nate protested. "If you're not looking for this Miles person -" Maggie and Aaron flinched. "Who are you looking for?"

"Someone important," Aaron said shortly.

"All the more reason for you to leave." Maggie said. "This is family business; it's really none of your concern. We appreciate your help these past few days but we really think it's time for you to go,"

"Neither of you look related to Charlie,"

"Blood or not, we are her family - we can't drag random people into our business!" Aaron remembered to keep his voice and tried to look discouraging but didn't succeed.

"I think it's up to Charlie to decide," Nate said after a moment, standing up. "We'll see what happens," he stepped around the two adults, making a beeline for a table of men, nursing mugs of beer.

"What do you want boy?"

"I just want to know if you anything about fishing crew," Maybe if this Militia thing went south - and it looked like it will - he could join a fishing crew, live on a boat or hide out in a fishing village. Charlie was just trying to get her brother back - how could he judge her for that?

* * *

"Let's go,"

"Charlie? Is something wrong?"

Nate looked up from the table and stood as he spotted Charlie returning to the bar, wiping her face with her sleeve. Maggie had intercepted her, concerned.

"I'm fine," Charlie said, trying to keep her voice even. "Let's go,"

She brushed past Maggie as Nate shouldered his pack and abandoned the conversation. "Charlie, what happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she seemed irritated and flapped a hand at him. "Let's just go okay?"

Nate felt his jaw clench. "Charlie, what did he say to you?"

Charlie did not respond. Nate spotted Miles returning to the bar and without pausing to think stepped around Charlie, cutting across Miles' path and putting up a hand to stop his movement.

"Hey, what did you to say to her, huh?"

"Well, aren't you just the perfect boyfriend," Miles scoffed before grabbing Nate's wrist and pulling down the sleeve, revealing a Milita brand on his right wrist. Nate felt his heart stop but managed to draw his knife on the older man. He was unfazed. "_Milita_, huh?"

Nate headbutted the older man sharply, making pain burst in his skull but it had the desired effect - Miles stumbled back and within moments, he had an arrow on the string, backing away from Miles.

Out of the corner, he could see Charlie staring at him in shock and Nate forced himself to focus on Miles before he fled out of the Grand. His cover was blown but he still had a mission to complete.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed and please review to tell me what you think


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